Amazon UK..

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Jim B
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jim B »

Firefly wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:11 pm Jim B

What I will say is that if anyone supports a man like this cruel animal murderer, it says a lot about them.

Any corruption is to be condemned, but every party is corrupt in one way or another, so yes I can live with myself.
You support a party that is open about bringing back Fox Hunting yet you criticise a man who killed a fox trying to get into his families hen house, you cant have it both ways, at least he didnt tear the fox limb from limb. The RSPCA said there was no case to answer, just the right wing press making mischief
This government has taken corruption to a new level and are openly blaze' about it. There are many outstanding court cases against this government for corrupt activities, especially stealing PPE money, money which could have gone to supporting people who need it.
Yes I would expect you to be able to live with yourself, I wouldn't doubt it.

Jim
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Devil »

Jimgward wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 2:20 pm Devil - "Didn't read" would have saved you typing
I did not type, I dictated! :-)
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Firefly »

Jim B

I abhor Fox Hunting, or any action which causes an animal to suffer at the hand of man.

As I see it, there was a case to answer, and unless the man in question plays baseball, I would be interested to know why he was in possession of said bat. If it is indeed true about the hen house, I'm sure the fox could have been persuaded to leave without this unspeakable act of cruelty. No the poor creature may not have been torn limb from limb, it died having it's brains bashed out by this moron, does that make it better ?

Are you also saying that all Conservatives voters shouldn't be able to live with themselves, or are you just singling me out ?

Jackie
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jim B »

living the dream wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 12:19 pm HIC - Italy leaving the EU was my "pipe dream" - I think you need to get some new glasses, I pointed out that Italy was extremely unhappy with the current Fiscal Policies imposed by the EU and many Italians were unhappy with the EU. Even a report posted on the 20th Oct 2020 states the unhappiness of Italy as the headline read "EU Braced For Bombshell Italexit As Plot To Leave In 2 Years Emerges" along with other countries watching Brexit to see if the UK can make a success of it.

David Cameron went to Brussels to try and renegotiate a number of treaties that were becoming issues for UK interests that were raised in Parliament, rightly or wrongly he promised the UK people a referendum if he could not negotiate any changes - the EU point blankly refused to budge or negotiate on the issues raised even though a referendum would have to be held should there be no movement. The EU's intransigence to give a bit was based on the blinding faith that the people of the UK would never vote to leave, to the astonishment of the EU technocrats the UK voted to leave - end of.

No Deal is better than a Bad Deal, a term bandied about for the last 2 years which I tend to agree with on a personal basis but as the Editor in Chief of Blid (Main German Newspaper) said last week Germany needs a deal to happen and Merkel is under pressure to make that happen given the UK is the single largest market for German Cars globally. He also pointed out that when Barnier (French) has been involved in negotiations said negotiations stagnated yet when he has been absent from negotiations the same negotiations have made ground, On Barnier's return the other week the talks had gone from a deal almost agreed to Barnier again torpedoing what was agreed in principle. Personally I suspect a deal will be agreed at the 11th hour despite Macron's demands that French Trawlers should have access to UK Sovereign Waters with or without a deal. Very reminiscent of the latest Cypriot stance against Turkey exploring for gas in what Cyprus considers its territorial waters, Boris quite rightly pointed out in Parliament that no UK PM would accept the latest demands of Barnier to which all sides were in agreement.

What the vast majority of people on this forum tend to do is try to give a balanced opinion on this and many other subjects but HIC and a small group of his loyal followers only ever bang the same drum on Brexit. Brexit is going to happen one way or the other preferably with a deal but if not then so be it the UK public voted and the UK public will have to move on down a road that will be good, bad or indifferent.

I lost my dream FO job with what I consider to be the best airline in the world due to Covid, I am now working as a parcel delivery driver to pass my time until my sector starts to recover as I prefer not to sit on my backside and moan about it, but no matter what Brexit or Covid throws at myself and many thousands of other people in the same position will show is that joe public's abilities, grit and sheer dogged determination will get them through both Covid and Brexit - the UK population is known for it and we are not all as thick as HIC and his cronies seem to think those who voted for Brexit are.
LTD

I do admire you for doing what you're doing, having worked in the Construction Industry all my life and hit many low points I too turned my hands to anything to make ends meet

Where I do disagree as a person who has run work crews of over 2,000 on major projects in the UK and all over the world the days of grit and determination from a British work force has long gone.
The skill set isn't available and neither is the attitude, very few like getting their hands dirty these days so if you believe the British have the workforce to turn things you have another think coming.

I do not follow anybody, I write from my own experiences as does HIC I would imagine. Cameron conned the British people, he knew the legislation was available to restrict the influx of EU citizens but played to the gallery because he feared UKIP, let's be honest about it instead of pretending it was all about the big bad EU, it was all about protecting the Conservative Party whether or not it destroyed our country.
I sincerely hope things turn round quickly for you and you get your dream job in the not too distant future.

Jim
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by living the dream »

Thanks JB - as I said Im speaking on behalf of myself but I must admit delivering parcels has been a real eye opener with some of the practices I've seen and please do not take this the wrong way but out of the 100 or so drivers that turn up in the morning the foreign labour (75%) is probably more reliable, that said I would not want my parcels delivered by them. First in first out the door - everything is just thrown in the back of the van with no consideration, the UK drivers albeit a bit slower out of the depot do take time to load the vans properly. I will say one thing it is surprising how many ex-professional type drivers there are at the depot I work out of - 2 other ex flight crew, an ex store manager, couple of pub landlords the list goes on - hence my comments of determination & grit.
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jim B »

Firefly wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 6:10 pm Jim B

I abhor Fox Hunting, or any action which causes an animal to suffer at the hand of man.

As I see it, there was a case to answer, and unless the man in question plays baseball, I would be interested to know why he was in possession of said bat. If it is indeed true about the hen house, I'm sure the fox could have been persuaded to leave without this unspeakable act of cruelty. No the poor creature may not have been torn limb from limb, it died having it's brains bashed out by this moron, does that make it better ?

Are you also saying that all Conservatives voters shouldn't be able to live with themselves, or are you just singling me out ?

Jackie
Well legal eagles with a greater knowledge of the law than you or I decided there was NO case to answer so we should really abide by the decision as I'm always told when the subject of Brexit comes up.
I'm saying very simply if you support corrupt and illegal practices you are guilty by assocation, the argument of "well they all do it" is no defence and you appear to be defending the indefensible by using that argument.
If you or I got up to half the tricks this government has got up to we would be in prison.

Jim
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Firefly »

Jim B

You will not answer my question, you are just using politician speak, i.e.waffle.

Are you, or are you not, saying that all Conservative voters should not be able to live with themselves ?
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Uncle D »

Quite a few who voted conservative in the last election were not traditional Tory voters, most just wanted brexit or in my opinion to get rid of Johnny foreigner.
It's sad really as most of the areas where they went from from labour to Tory are manufacturing areas in the north and they will probably be hit the hardest if there is no deal
David
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jimgward »

Johnson’s English National Party have prostituted themselves for their donors and backers, allowing the UK to be virtually raped in a modern world, by leaving trading blocks just when the rest of the world are joining them. Don’t be fooled by talks of Australian deals. That’s just a WTO deal and available on the same terms to the smallest of nations and balked by any large ones.

The fishing issue, is a red herring (sorry) as it accounts for 0.1% of GDP, meanwhile we lose services businesses by the day. Also, almost all fishing quotes are owned by a handful of individuals, some of whom are overseas. Our fishing fleets sold out for a fast buck. No pressure by the Eu, this was the UK using the Sovereignty it always had.

Putting the “great” back into Britain is a joke, it hasn’t been there since our days of pillaging other nations under the auspices of Imperialism.

I’ll be glad when Scotland is Independent, a member of the EU and a prime trading vehicle for England into Europe.
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jim B »

Firefly wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:26 pm Jim B

You will not answer my question, you are just using politician speak, i.e.waffle.

Are you, or are you not, saying that all Conservative voters should not be able to live with themselves ?
I have answered your question, having seen the corruption, the criminal acts and listened to the lies coming from this government I couldn't live with myself supporting this band of crooks and believe anyone with an ounce of principle or integrity would feel the same.
Many honourable Conservatives are ashamed of the direction this present government is taking but unfortunately most have either been sidelined or deselected.

Jim
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jim B »

living the dream wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:10 pm Thanks JB - as I said Im speaking on behalf of myself but I must admit delivering parcels has been a real eye opener with some of the practices I've seen and please do not take this the wrong way but out of the 100 or so drivers that turn up in the morning the foreign labour (75%) is probably more reliable, that said I would not want my parcels delivered by them. First in first out the door - everything is just thrown in the back of the van with no consideration, the UK drivers albeit a bit slower out of the depot do take time to load the vans properly. I will say one thing it is surprising how many ex-professional type drivers there are at the depot I work out of - 2 other ex flight crew, an ex store manager, couple of pub landlords the list goes on - hence my comments of determination & grit.
LTD

I hear what you're saying and I don't want to sound demeaning but we're not going to turn the country around delivering parcels. The Skillset in the UK isn't available, it's as simple as that. The company I worked for had an Engineering Office in London and around three quarters of the 1000 or so workers were from overseas because the disciplines needed were just not available and it's the same with craftsmen, you just can't pick 200 electricians off the shelf these days, they have to be brought in from Poland or Hungary.
Craftsmen have to be trained and to become competent takes around 10 years until they've gained the experience.
I maybe wrong but I dont think they give a "Flying a 737 for Dummies" to all trainee pilots, l would imagine they train long and hard to become competent.
The last project I worked on in the UK the Contractors would bring in Agency Workers who would work one day and disappear because the job was too dirty, too cold or too wet; sorry but a very steep hill to climb.

Jim
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Dominic »

I guess they will have to go back to apprentices and have less of a push to give all kids unnecessary degrees. If university education was left to the people who actually needed the qualification it might even be free again.
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by living the dream »

I personally think part of the skills shortage problem has been the emphasis on tech over the last 25 years. The governments, schools, colleges etc were all focusing their efforts on the tech boom, brick laying, plumbing, electrical, roofing etc was all but pushed to one side and as a result as Jim B said there is now a massive shortage of those skill sets in the UK. That said i have also seen first hand european brickies work and it was extremely shoddy - but I am not about to tar all euro construction workers with the same brush but certainly the new houses where my youngest daughter bought hers were on a site where 95% of the workers were foreign labour with only the site manager, project manager, surveyors and sales staff etc were British and the snagging list was endless. Dominics view is correct - University should not be pushed onto kids automatically, kids should go that have a specific career in mind and not just for the sake of it. Construction is a hard game but has made many people who started with nothing fairly wealthy and given an extremely comfortable life style for many millions more over the years. We need to encourage the youth of today by not just offering apprenticeships but paying a decent salary to take on those positions when taken on by a company.
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jim B »

Dominic

You are correct but like everything it will take time because the UK has no heavy industry to speak of, it just assembles bits and pieces manufactured in other countries.

In response to LTD, I've never been involved in building houses, generally oil refineries, petroleum chemical, nuclear power and that sort of thing but do know many countries work on a "fit for purpose" philosophy where basically it doesn't really matter what it looks like.
I've had Hungarian, Philippine and Indian work forces who were second to none, if you expect high standards from your work crew you get high standards
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jimgward »

The UK is a services economy. Manufacturing is limited to niche products that require either specialist skills, or little labour.

The problem with a services economy, which has been highlighted massively in the pandemic, where lots are still working from home, is that it proves to companies that if employees can be managed remotely, then their location is less important than their cost. Near-Shoring and Off-Shoring will hit the UK economy massively over the next few years.

I own a company that employs 20 - 30 people who 'could' all work from home and most did for months in April, May and June. However, anyone who says that all staff can work from home as well as an office, doesn't understand that different jobs need different management. In the Spring and early summer, our management input for those staff working from home was twice what it was when they were in the office, We struggled to decide to keep the business open or just give up. We had to design new services, marketing and employ new skills to continue working, We have now come out stronger than before. BUT, we had to have staff back, in secure working situations. We have had to procure a larger office to provide more space between desks etc. but the staff needed the interactions offices can provide. We are not typical of offices at this time. Most are closed with staff working from home and I worry that they will close UK presences.
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jim B »

Jim
This is what I've been trying to explain about our manufacturing Industry. When I first started in construction on refineries around 95% of the heavy equipment was British Built, now I'd be exaggerating if I said it's around 2% these days. It has come to the stage where we have to bring in the French and Chinese to build new Nuclear Power Stations because we haven't got got the expertise or technical knowhow any more and that can't be rectified in a couple of years as most Brexiters believe.

Jim
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Dominic »

Jim B wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 11:31 am Dominic

You are correct but like everything it will take time because the UK has no heavy industry to speak of, it just assembles bits and pieces manufactured in other countries.

In response to LTD, I've never been involved in building houses, generally oil refineries, petroleum chemical, nuclear power and that sort of thing but do know many countries work on a "fit for purpose" philosophy where basically it doesn't really matter what it looks like.
I've had Hungarian, Philippine and Indian work forces who were second to none, if you expect high standards from your work crew you get high standards
Jim
I agree, it will take time. But that is the only viable way ahead if Britain wants what it seems to want. It's not a situation I am happy with, believe you me.
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Re: Amazon UK..

Post by Jim B »

Dominic
My wife is from Kasakhstan and says to me what is happening in the UK (in her opinion) bears similarities to the break up of the Soviet Union. The Oligarchs grabbed all the money and the ordinary people in general are still entrenched in poverty. Kazakhstan is a very wealthy country with minerals and oil and gas reserves other countries could only dream about but when they gained independence they didnt have a skilled workforce as most technical positions were reserved for ethnic Russians who went back to Russia and the menial tasks for Kazakhs. Coming up to thirty years the Kazakhs are finally getting their act together and are not as reliant on foriegn workers as they were. Kazakhs are generally a very intelligent people, like my wife who was a university lecturer and speaks eight languages or our daughter who is a Bio Physicist in Oxford in the laboratories were they are developing the Covid Vaccine (she didnt get her brains from me). My point is it's taken Kazakhstan 30 years to get to a position we were in in 1973 and that's where the UK is heading and I'm not happy either.

Jim
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Re: Amazon UK..

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